Royal Family: The ancient rule which meant the Queen would not sit on a fake throne when visiting Game of Thrones set

Over the course of the Queen’s impressive 70-year reign, Her Majesty has been on a number of visits to various film sets in a effort to engage with the latest pop culture. Back in 2014, the Queen even headed to Belfast’s Titanic Quarter in Belfast to visit the set of the hit HBO series Game of Thrones, and fans were simply delighted.

During the visit, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were able to explore the legendary set and meet the cast and crew. However, Maisie Williams, who played Arya Stark in the fantasy series, admitted that Her Majesty decided not to sit on the iconic Iron Throne.

Speaking on the popular YouTube show First We Feast, Maisie said: “She didn’t necessarily refuse – no one said, ‘Sit on that chair because it is going to be funny.’ We all just sort of smiled and were like, ‘Is she going to do it?'” Maisie added to host Sean Evans: “She sort if looked at it and said, ‘That doesn’t look very comfortable.'”

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Show creator David Benioff later explained to Seth Meyers why the Queen had declined to take a sit on the infamous prop. David explained that the Queen is “not allowed” to sit on a foreign throne. He said: “This is an esoteric rule we didn’t know about until that moment.”

In a piece for The New Statesman, journalist Phil Jones claims that back in 2001 the Queen told him all about her favourite show during a visit to Buckingham Palace. Phil claims he’d kept their conversation a secret for 21 years as he’d previously been told that journalists shouldn’t reveal their discussions with the Queen. However, after leaving BBC Radio 2, he decided it was time to finally divulge what he had learned.

After being invited to a royal event, Phil asked what her favourite TV show is, and she immediately replied with “The Kumars at No 42”. He claims Her Majesty was such a big fan of the programme that she could even “recite some of the one-liners” from it.

Phil wrote: “In 2001 I was invited to a media function at Buckingham Palace. We chatted for ages, which I can tell you is rather surreal. My brain kept saying, ‘Bloody hell I’m talking to the Queen and I can’t think of a single thing to say!’

“In the end, I alighted on, ‘What’s your favourite programme?’ Straightaway, she said, ‘The Kumars at No. 42’ and, even more astonishingly, proceeded to recite some of the one-liners from the grandma character, played by the brilliant Meera Syal.”

The Kumars at No. 42 was a British television show that ran from 2001 to 2006, spanning seven seasons. It was about a fictional British Indian family from Wembley, North West London, who invited famous celebs to their house to try Indian chai, ladoos and ask them questions about their lives.

As for Game of Thrones, Prince William has revealed that he loves watching the iconic TV show. Joined by his wife Kate Middleton on Radio 1, William said: “We’ve watched Homeland, big fans of Homeland. Game of Thrones we’ve watched as well. Seems like everyone has watched Game of Thrones.” He added to DJ Adele Roberts that it was “worth a watch”.